


last line of defense

by Riverdaughter



Series: 101 other ways to fix or break the galaxy [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, F/M, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Oops, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Sidious is NOT HAPPY, lot's more jedi live, maybe he should have kept Dooku around a bit longer, this doesn't actually make the galaxy a much better place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24140209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riverdaughter/pseuds/Riverdaughter
Summary: One slightly different choice results in Sidious losing his prized pawn. Too bad he has spent the last three years turning the boy into a general...
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker
Series: 101 other ways to fix or break the galaxy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742038
Comments: 13
Kudos: 193





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> SO I've been running late on all my May the 4th fics...better late than never right? And since the last four episodes of Clone Wars are heartbreaking this is my attempt to cope.

All but the final piece has fallen into place. Despite hoarded years of patience, Darth Sidious finds himself growing annoyed. He doesn’t _need_ that last pawn, but oh how he wants it.

Skywalker never came back and eventually he found himself forced to deal with Windu himself. It is but a minor setback, surely the years of suggestions and friendship will return the boy in the end. And there will always be other ways to force him to commit.

A sudden ripple in the Force and a glance through the broken transparasteel window makes him reconsider. Someone has organized a defense of the Temple, this is not the swift surgical strike meant to slaughter his ancient enemies and bind his apprentice in the darkness forever. Someone with excellent tactical instincts is still alive and plotting in the Temple, and with the cream of the Jedi generals either dead or off-planet he can think of only one who is behind this upset in his carefully laid plans.

Over a decade of training and this is how the boy repays him, this blatant defiance in return for all his clever suggestions and battlefield experience. He knows that they are probably evacuating, alas for all the times he has encouraged the brat to slip out of the Temple unnoticed.

Such a waste, Skywalker is possibly the worst investment that he has ever made.

Well, he can still have the satisfaction of seeing the boy’s corpse, or perhaps even taking him alive. If he has learned anything of his character over the years, it is that in spite of pride, recklessness and a certain tendency to think on his feet (but not ahead), Skywalker cares far too much.

He had planned to train this obvious weakness out of him with the help of the Amidala and her child. He has no doubt, however, that the Senator has since flown the coop. But unless he mistakes his would-be-apprentice, he is likely to be last to leave. He needs only give the boy something to protect, something that he will risk capture or death for. And he can use the fact that these are Skywalker’s own picked men, clones that the boy has insisted on treating as people. He will have a harder time fighting back against friends.

A couple of precise commands later and 501st has started herding their general towards one of the last holdouts of hidden younglings, stun blasts aimed at Skywalker and kill shots at the children. Sidious has not had a chance to plan an execution in a long time. Skywalker’s padawan slipped through his fingers, it is only fair that her master should due the honors instead.

Perhaps, if she escaped, she and Amidala will enjoy watching. 


	2. The Survivors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Padme regroup. There is fake news. Anakin loses a glove and his temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who reviewed and asked for more! This is all I have written right now, but I'm not ruling out continuing this idea.

Ahsoka has for most of her life seldom spent too much time on regrets. She has always had plenty of drive and unlike her teacher, she is capable of moving on…most of the time.

Those things that she does regret are few, her first engagement as squadron leader, that she couldn’t help Bariss _before_ she Fell, that she hadn’t figured out how to save her men from their own programing and now most of all that she hadn’t laid aside her pride and been less _detached_ of all things when she had finally seen Anakin and Obi-Wan again.

She had been prepared for Anakin to be angry or sad or pushy, somehow between that last bitter goodbye and the present she had forgotten just how much sheer happiness he was capable for generating and hadn’t been sure how to handle it.

The news that Temple has been sacked is not entirely unexpected. She had had men who she trusted, who had trusted her, turn and try to kill her. It was not an unreasonable assumption that the same had happened elsewhere. The news that Anakin had not been among the many survivors _is_ surprising as well as painful, he has always managed to seem invincible even though they both had known otherwise.

So, she and Padme (Anakin’s not-so-secret wife as it turned out) have been helping with the reorganization and disappearing efforts, partly because it is good to help in some way but also in search of answers. Neither of them will speak of it, but they have both seen Anakin dying under the blasters of his own men in their dreams.

Nobody seems able to tell them anything except that they had last seen Anakin leading the defense and corralling survivors towards hidden ways out. When Obi-Wan joins them he has nothing better to add, except that although he and Yoda had slipped back into the Temple they had not seen Anakin’s body.

Which doesn’t really make any of them feel any better.

And then a few weeks after the galaxy fell apart, they see him again. In fact, anyone with a holonet connection does. Ahsoka is out, her lekku pattern changed to red on grey and her facial markings covered, but all thought of supply-hunting drains away when their wonderful new Emperor shows up on holoscreen.

He looks surprising similar to his old Chancellor persona, except that now that their eyes have been opened she can see the creeping darkness behind his smile. It feels like staring down a blackhole.

“…treasonous activities…” Palpatine is saying, and she decides to ignore him. “I had hoped that my old and dear friend General Skywalker was not a part of the plot.” he continues, and to Ahsoka’s simultaneous relief and horror the view shifts to a very familiar face, lips pressed into a defiant line and eyes blazing blue fire.

“…cannot comprehend the magnitude of this betrayal” says Palpatine sadly, “We were all of us deceived, I have since discovered many redacted Jedi reports that show me that our trust in General Skywalker was grossly abused. In fact, much as I hate to say this, he had been playing on our years of friendship and colluding with the other Jedi in order to prolong the war for their own selfish purposes.”

Even onscreen, Ahsoka can see the moment Anakin’s careful defiance starts slipping towards incandescent anger (not that she blames him) and by the time that Palpatine is introducing Bariss Offee as a lone loyal supporter and the victim of Anakin and Ahsoka’s plotting she is ready to strangle someone herself. Anakin is wearing heavy cuffs, probably force-dampers as well, but she can see the faint tremble in the room and then one of the windows crumples. She has a moment to wonder why he isn’t verbally defending himself before the picture fades into the aurebesh for “technical difficulties”.

She gets back to Obi-Wan and Padme just in time to hear the end of the broadcast and the “Senate’s” decision that this last traitorous jedi is going to be publicly executed for his crimes. Padme goes very white and Obi-Wan looks like someone is gutting him. Ahsoka cannot see herself but she is guessing that there is probably a barest hint of gold at the edges of her irises. 

Anakin’s face is frozen onscreen, something between outrage and resignation on his face and a look in his eyes that is screaming that this is a trap. When she looks down at his hands, she catches the odd arraignment of metal and flesh fingers (she wonders when they took his leather glove) and she can read the old GAR code as well as she used to.

“Stay away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, Palps is totally that evil (and cruel). The best lies have a grain of truth after all...

**Author's Note:**

> So, a bit open ended. I might write a sequel in the verse if there's interest though. 
> 
> Having come to the painful end of Clone Wars...does any one else really want to see a Clone Wars/Marvel What-If style show where things pan-out a bit differently? I know that Anakin is always going to end up Vader in the movies but it would so awesome to have an alternate universe show...


End file.
